Talk about your hard workers! Band groups are awesome when it comes
to putting forth the effort it takes for fundraising success. The key is
making sure they have the right fundraiser that will leverage all that
energy.

In this article, we'll consider three band fundraisers that:
*Take some effort
*Are perfect for medium-sized groups
*Produce excellent results

Citrus Fruit:
One band fundraiser that fits the easy fundraiser formula is
selling cases of citrus fruit shipped direct from the Florida
groves.

Here, the band members use an order-taker brochure to explain
the offering to prospective supporters.

You really need to go door-to-door or sell from a merchant
table to achieve the kind of numbers where you'll raise
substantial funds. This is perfect for a band group with
enough members to canvass entire neighborhoods by working in
pairs.

Customers can choose from Navel Oranges, Tangelos, Tangerines,
Red Grapefruits, and mixed cartons. Order sizes range from ten
pounds all the way up to forty pounds.

A common size is 2/5 of a bushel or 20 pounds. Generally, you
can expect to pay roughly $8 for this size and make a profit
of $4 each. These are rough prices because citrus fruit can
vary in price based on weather patterns and availability.

Citrus fruit is a wintertime offering with availability best
between mid-November through mid-April. There are discounts
for large orders and bonuses for ordering a whole truckload.

Christmas Wreaths:
Another band fundraiser that's a good fit is selling Christmas
wreaths via an order-taker brochure.

It's another late fall fundraiser that takes advantage of a
holiday "must have" decoration.

Since they're made fresh, you can get an early jump on the
retail stores and conduct your fundraiser as an order taker
before Thanksgiving.

There are a number of offerings in addition to the traditional
door wreath.

Profits are approximately 40% of the selling price on most
items, so it makes a great band fundraiser because the total
revenue is high.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how quickly your
band profits can add up with an aggressive marketing campaign.
You need to set some high goals for each band member, such as
ten sales each before Thanksgiving.

Delivery is easy, with each wreath sealed in a plastic bag to
preserve freshness. Get your orders in early and allow two
weeks minimum for delivery.

Coffee Fundraiser:
A third band fundraiser that produces great results is a
coffee sale. Like the other two fundraisers we've already
discussed, a large selection of pre-bagged coffee products are
sold via an order-taker brochure.

Your supporters can select from twenty or more flavors. Most
suppliers have small "dollar bags" or the better
selling half-pound package.

Usually, the cost for a half pound of quality coffee is $3,
and the retail price is $5 or $6. You can offer a choice of
whole bean, or ground varieties.

The idea here is to tap into the market for something that
almost every household buys regularly, then expand upon it
with multiple flavors.

Their names conjure up images of a cup of coffee wafting
delicious aromas throughout the kitchen - flavors like
Hazelnut, Toasted Almond, Hawaiian Coconut, Butterscotch, or
Morning Glory.

Again, success is best achieved by presenting your offering to large
numbers of prospective supporters. Set up a table at any event that
draws a large crowd. Offer samples from tiny paper cups. Get the word
out to as many people as you can.

Your band group works hard. Make sure you pick a band fundraiser that
works just as hard by being impossible to resist.

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A veteran of the Korean War, Hank Kellner is a retired educator
who has served as an English Department chairperson at the high
school level and an adjunct Associate Professor of English at
the community college level.

For several years he published "Kellner's
Moneygram", a newsletter for photographers. He also
owned and operated Simmer Pot Press, a small press specializing
in cookbooks, for several years.

Kellner is the creator of many photographs and articles that
appeared in publications nationwide; the author of extensive
reading comprehension materials for a publisher of educational
materials, and a former contributing editor to Darkroom
Photography magazine. His current publication is Write
What You See: 99 Photos To Inspire Writing (Cottonwood
Press, due out January, 2009)

Nature As Seen by a
Young Boy

Here
are a poem and photo I received for possible inclusion in my
upcoming anthology, Reflections: 99 Photos and Poems To
Inspire Writing. I added the quotation by John Keats. The
poem is by nine-year-old Erick Moore, a student at Muhlenberg
South Elementary School, Beechmont, Kentucky. Angela Todd is
Erick’s teacher. The photo is by sixteen-year-old Taylor
Dennhy. Taylor is a student at Horizon High School, Scottsdale,
Arizona.

It’s
easy to see that you can use the quotation, poem, and photo
together to inspire class discussion that leads to writing
assignments. But that’s not all. You could use just the
quotation, the poem, or the image individually to motivate your
students. Or you could use any combination of two of the items
for the same purpose.

Feel
free to download the poem, photo, and quotation for use in your
classroom. If you do, I’d be delighted to read samples of the
results. You can contact me at hankpix(at)yahoo(dot)com.

“The
poetry of the earth is never dead.” John Keats.

"In the Wild I See"

In
the wild I see, I see a great blue sky hanging over me.
With clouds as white as snow, at night I see a soft glow.

In
the wild I see, I see cute little birds singing to me.
With beautiful songs they sing with glee.

In
the wild I see, I see a fawn and its mother dancing around a
tree.
With gentle grace so lovely.

In the wild I see, I
see……….Nature

By Erick Moore

Photo by Taylor Dennehy

A
Poem about Trees

Julie
Brown teaches English 11 AP, Journalism, Cinema Study, and
Creative Writing at Bolingbrook High School, Bolingbrook,
Illinois. I matched her untitled poem with one of my photos to
create a page from my upcoming work, Reflections: A
Collection of Poems, Photos, and More. I added the quotationthat precedes the poem.

This book is
designed to inspire class discussion that leads to
written compositions. Feel free to download this
combination for use in your classroom. By the way, you
can click on the photo to enlarge it.

I like trees because
they seem to be more resigned to the way they have to
live than other things do."
Willa Cather

every
year, it's always the same
the brown, rough statues stand tall
feet firmly planted in the ground
hoping to grow, reaching the sky
just out of grasp
then come the pesky green dots
spots of color--until mid-spring
then they are in full force
waving, swinging, attracting attention
the trees just sigh and stand
by autumn, they've had enough
they start to burn the leaves off
slowly, one by one
green to yellow to red to brown
as they fall, the trees regret
winter's here and they've lost their coats.

By Julie Brown

Photo credit to Hank Kellner

Copyright
2009 Hank Kellner

These poem/photo combinations are from
Hank Kellner's upcoming publication, Reflections: A Collection of Poetry, Photos, and
More.

Hank
Kellner is the author of
Write What You See: 99 Photos To Inspire Writing. Published by Cottonwood Press ( I-800-864-4297)
and distributed by IndependentPublishers Group, Write What You See includes a supplementary CD with photos. 8 ½ x11,
120 pages, perfect binding, ISBN 978-1-877-673-83-2, LCCN
2008938630. $24.95. Available at bookstores, from the publisher,and on the Internet at www.amazon.comand
other websites.
Ask
your school or local librarian to order it.Visit the author’s
blog at http://hank-englisheducation.com.
The author will contribute a portion of the royalties earned
from the sale of this book to The Wounded Warriors Project.

There
are six modules designed to test the basic ability of an
individual in terms of Memory & Concentration. Needless to
say this is the most important basic skill for not just to
survive but also to thrive in this competitive environment.
Each of the six modules tests the six variants of Memory &
Concentration in an individual, namely:

1.

Picture
recognition

2.

Paired Associate
Learning

3.

Immediate Recall

4.

Serial processing

5.

Parallel
processing

6.

Recognition and
Recall

Each
of these modules runs at three different levels, from easy to
difficult.

At each level, the individual's performance is depicted as
Scores Obtained.

A feedback has been built into the software for all these 18
levels depending on the marks one scores during the
test.

Each individual can assess his/her performance any time by
clicking on "history", which gives complete details
of date and time of taking the tests, marks scored each time
and even time taken to do the test. This builds the confidence
level and encourages more participation to eventually
culminate in improvement and enhancement of memory and
concentration.

Essentially, this software is a SELF AWARENESS tool that
surely motivates the individual to realize one's capability
and seek or be receptive for improvement. Also, if repeatedly
done over a period of time works as Training tool to enhance
their capability.

This
software package is specifically designed to help young
children to learn basic skills that will help them in
school. Continued follow-up will give these young
learners success as they mature.

Three versions of the software exist:
Individual Software on either CD or Online, Family
Version Software, and an Institutional Software package.

StarTeaching wholeheartedly supports
and endorses this software. It will make a difference
with your child or student.

Jerry Judge
is a Affiliate Professor with Grand Valley State
University. Prior to this he was a High School principal at L'Anse ,
Kalkaska and Royal Oak for a total of 25 years. During his tenure in education
he has observed many changes and has had the opportunity to work with many outstanding teachers in Northern Michigan.
His position with Grand Valley is to work with educators on
leadership and writing articles on leadership for all educators.

The 80% Solution

During my years as a school principal I have observed many situations that required
having the entire staff on board. After a few years I came to the conclusion that you will rarely have the entire
staff agreeing on anything.

That is why I came up with 80% solution.

Whenever I felt that 80% of the staff was behind an issue,
I felt comfortable acting.

Many administrators who work closely with school-improvement teams
(or North Central teams) have used this solution to receive consensus before
enforcing a new policy or program. Just think of how many meetings that you have participated
in where an issue is discussed and discussed and no action has been taken
simply because you do not have then entire staff agreeing on an
issue.

For example, how many staff meetings have you sat through where the topic of gum
chewing was hashed over and over with no obvious solutions, when you could have been discussing real
school improvement issues? Probably far too many. That's
where the 80% rule would be very effective.

Grand Valley offers a Masters in Educational Leadership in Boyne City and Cadillac. If you would like to find out more about our program feel free to contact me
at: jjudge2935@charter.net
or call me at 231-258-2935.

Many of the topics we will present will be for teachers seeking and administration position and for recently appointed administration. I will also receive comments from those who have just completed their first year as administrators. Since the program in Northern began eleven years ago we have placed over 60 GVSU graduates in administration positions.

Student
Teachers' Lounge:
For The Things They Don't Teach You In College

Take Your Time the First Few
Weeks

The first year of teaching is a continual
challenge. You become better with experience. Keep
at it and reflect on your practice, and you'll soon find you are
on the road to being a fine teacher.

Don't be in a hurry when you first start the year.
Obviously there are many things to cover in those first weeks (and
especially the first few days!). Set yourself a plan and decide what the
most important things you must teach first and foremost have to be. Then
stick to your plan. Remember to teach, model, practice, and re-teach if
necessary.

One major component is your classroom rules and
procedures. We like to provide students with a handout they show their
parents and keep with them over the year. But don't just provide a
handout (see our article from the Sept issue). Teach those procedures
and discuss the rules and expectations. Review them daily, even if its
just for a few minutes. We even have writing assignments and short
quizzes so students can actually use what they've learned from you.

You'll be teaching them many procedures for running a
smooth class too. The students must learn your expectations for taking
notes and tests, reading and writing in class, posing questions and
asking for help. You'll have procedures for collecting work, giving
assignments, handing back work, and dismissing class. And you'll have
expectations for leaving your room, whether it is to get a drink, use
the bathroom, or head for the library or lab. Each of these, among the
many of your class, needs to be taught, modeled, and practiced by your
students. Take plenty of time training them right, and the rest of the
year will be smooth.

Spend plenty of time during your first few weeks in
teaching, reviewing, and even quizzing your students on class rules,
expectations, and procedures. The more time you and your students spend
over the span of several weeks, the better the students will know and
understand (and remember) these expectations.

Have
you ever thought about why you take grades? I used to believe that it
was important to grade every assignment that I had the students do. I
felt I was doing a disservice to them if I didn't grade everything. This
resulted in a lot of grades, but did it result in a lot of learning?

I believe it builds a wrong way of thinking in the students and causes
them to see school as a place where they get a lot of grades, and not as
a place of learning.It
also leads us, as teachers, to think the same way. Do you teach to get
grades, or is your motivation to help children learn?

Grades are just a measure of what someone understands and their level of
understanding. At least that's what they're suppose to be. We should be
using formative assessment constantly to know where students are, but
should these assessments be graded. Does this reflect where a student is
at, or how they learn?

What do I mean by that? Think about how you learn. When something is new
to you and you are just learning about it, do you truly understand it at
first? Probably not at first. But as you deal with it over and over
again you get better at whatever the skill is. Let's use math as an
example. When I'm learning my multiplication facts, I don't learn them
all at once. I also don't' learn them at the same speed as others. Maybe
it takes me longer. Now let's factor in taking grades on everything a
student does. Does the grade reflect whether they know the material, or
how fast they can learn it? Is learning about speed, or understanding?

So why do we grade everything, when a student is just beginning to learn
it? This makes no sense, unless our motivation is just to teach the
students and get grades.

Let's raise the bar of our profession higher. Our motivation should be
to teach in a way that helps everyone become a lifelong self motivated
learner. Our grading should reflect that, and not hinder it with certain
attitudes.

So what should we do as teachers do? Formative assessment should be a
constant, and because of these assessments we should adjust our teaching
to help those who aren't understanding it yet. Grades should only be
taken when you feel the students have had enough experience in the
skill. From this assessment, we have another chance to reassess whether
our method of teaching is working, and if not, adjust again. All of this
works towards that final summative assessment.

In summing up, it's not about how many grades we get, but the quality of
what our grading reflects.

Mark Benn earned his B.S. from Western
Michigan University and his Elementary Certification from
Northern Michigan University. He is a 21 year teaching
veteran of 5th and 6th grade students at Inland Lakes Middle
School in Indian River, MI. He is currently working on
Masters of Integration of Technology from Walden University.

Prior to teaching, Mark spent 11 years as Department Manager for
Sears, Roebuck and Co. dealing with emerging technologies.
He has been married to his wife Bonnietta for 32 years with one
daughter and two sons. In the summers, Mark works for
Mackinac State Historic Parks in the as a historical
interpreter.

How to make English language teaching and learning process an enjoyable experience- a
practical approach

By V.Sankaranarayanan

(The author is a practicing teacher of English in PSG Tech Coimbatore and he can be contacted at the
e-mail id: v_sankar_ind@yahoo.com)

V.Sankaranarayanan
Department of English
PSG Tech,Coimbatore

As a teacher of English, I have seen students especially from Tamil medium translating sentences from
Tamil to English verbatim which has disastrous results. Students often use sentences like “I burn dog
with stone” or I understand the fan” with ease and confidence as they feel that their translations are
perfect owing to the blind trust that their teachers cannot commit any mistake.

When I was ruminating over a solution to the aforesaid problems I chanced to read Mr. Hugo Williams
article on Making English Language teaching effective (16-6-10) which while praising the current
system of the state of education in Tamilnadu like motivating the students to come to schools by giving them
free food, free books and free cycles and inducing them to learn by the introduction of the activity
based learning methods like ALM (Active Learning Method) which stresses on greater interaction
among students thereby making learning an enjoyable experience, comes down heavily on the archaic
teaching methods in the secondary level where teaching is examination oriented and so most of the
teaching remains passive and uninspiring.

At the SSLC and the +2 levels the teaching of English is confined to passing the examination. Teachers
know that any deviation from the prescribed method either in the syllabus or in the question paper
pattern will result in the decrease of pass percentage and so they dare not deviate. This inability to
deviate from the prescribed pattern will inevitably result in loss of interest both in teaching as well as
in learning. Also the text books in English and the question paper pattern do not allow any room for
deviation with the result that the English that they learn is neither useful to them for communication
nor for real life situations. For example the stress on sentence patterns like SV,SVO, SVC,
SVOO, and SVOC which form a major question in any question paper is neither useful nor necessary and so the
teaching of these patterns becomes ineffective. If a student is asked to give a pattern for a sentence ,he
will say SVC or SVO because as far as he is concerned there is no difference between Object and
Complement. Same is the case with the teaching of change of voices and Modals. This is because the
teaching is academic and the approach structural, rather than situational where the student knows
the purpose of learning a grammatical item. This problem is overcome by teaching English in Tamil
and when these students come to college they expect the same method of teaching even in English
classes .When they find the teachers teach in English they become scared and this scare gives rise to
silence fear and awe. So in an English class the students learn to be silent--they ought to be talking—and
when the class is over they heave a sigh of relief.

In order to overcome the problem of lack of interaction owing to shyness, nervousness and fear which
may become terror when the teacher starts shouting at them in English, the students should be made
to relax in the class and once they relax they become confident, and once confidence is in them,
they develop an inner urge to learn English. The task o the teacher lies in kindling this urge by convincing
them that English is also like any other language and that there is nothing to be scared about.

In order to replace fear with confidence ,the English class can be a place where the participants gather
and exchange ideas. So the students instead of sitting in one place move about gathering data from
others like name, place of stay, hobbies, etc. Once all the data are collected, which will take around
fifteen minutes; they can be asked to present them in the class in their own English. Their presentation
would be full of mistakes both grammatical, and semantic. Many would struggle for words and their
speech may be interspersed with silence and some words. In spite of all these, if they are motivated to
continue, they will have a feeling that they can also talk and once this awareness dawns on them they
will definitely talk the next time if they get a chance

These types of interactive sessions can be made use of for taking lessons and for teaching
grammatical items.

Educational Therapy is a method of working with troubled children who
struggle with learning. It is a technique that combines psychoanalytic
and educational insight and techniques.

Children in school can experience difficulties, which may prevent
them from accessing the curriculum and managing in class. A better
understanding of the complex issues underlying these problems helps
teachers to find new ways of thinking about children and strategies for
helping them both therapeutically and by preventing difficulties from
developing.

It benefits children and young people with:-

Learning and communication difficulties

Poor social behavior in school

Poor social relationships

The threat of school exclusion

Children who have experienced separations, accidents, bereavement,
mental or physical illness in the family, violence, sexual abuse or
emotional deprivation and are unable to concentrate and learn in school.

These pupils are often identified early in their school career and
given additional support to which they do not fully respond. Educational
therapy can be offered as a preventive intervention at this stage.

The child or young person meets with the therapist, usually for one
session a week for 50 minutes. Treatment takes place during school term
time and may last for four terms or more. The use of stories, drawings,
educational activities, games and play provide experiences which help
the child make sense of their difficulties and gain the confidence
necessary to become a learner. Regular interviews are held
parents/careers and with teachers. Educational therapy can also take
place in groups.

The purpose of Educational Therapy is:

To develop a relationship which enables the child or young person to
feel more settled in the classroom

To explore and resolve the emotional difficulties which are holding
back learning

The legends of the Michigan Dogman come alive in six haunting
tales by folklore author, Frank Holes, Jr.Based upon both mythology and alleged real stories of the
beast, this collection is sure to fire the imagination!

Spanning the decades and the geography of the
Great Lakes
State
, Frank weaves:

A mysterious police report of an unsolvable death in
Manistee
County

A
terrifying encounter in the U.P.’s remote
Dickinson
County

A BLOG,
begun as one man’s therapy, becomes a chronicle of sightings
from around
Michigan

A secret
governmental agent investigates the grisly aftermath of Sigma

A pioneer
family meets more than they expected on the trail north

A
campfire tale of ancient betrayal handed down through the Omeena
Tribe

This
is the first in a series on developing Journal Writing in your
classroom, a writing technique that is applicable to any grade
and any subject area.

We
use the journal writing style for several applications in class.The number one goal of mine is to provide students with a place
to record their thoughts and to reflect on their lives.I also advocate writing activities that can (and should) be done
on a daily basis.I really
believe students need to write a lot and often; they become better
writers with a lot of practice.You
can't expect students to be good at writing if they only write a few
times each month or marking period.But I also don't believe students need to formally write essays
each time either.Journaling
is one way to break up the monotony of the formal style.

Creating
journals is a very easy and fun activity that gives the students
ownership of the journal. Pass out ten or so pieces of regular lined
paper to each student.I
always keep a basket of lined paper at the front and back of my room
anyway, so students can add pages to their journal at any time they
need.Then pass out colored
construction paper for the front and back covers.Each student receives three fasteners to hold it all together.A suggestion is to NOT punch holes in the covers, as the fastener
heads sometimes slip through, and the journals can fall apart.I allow the students to decorate their covers with anything, as
long as it's tasteful and appropriate for school.

Students
must be given the freedom of choosing their own topics if they wish.However, I always provide a topic for the students to use if they
are unable to generate their own ideas.Students are allowed to use my topic, or to change any part of
it.I'll share a few of my
classroom journal topics in the follow up to this article.Any idea can be changed into a journal topic - I usually add a
few guiding questions for students to consider when making their
responses.

Some
students also enjoy writing on the same topic for more than one writing
session.I even have some
students who are writing stories, and complete chapters or stanzas
during class time.They may
take a break once in a while and write on a different topic, but they
usually end up back at their story.

Students
are not allowed to stop and think for more than a few seconds
- this is a writing activity, not a stopping and thinking
activity.And
their grade is based on the amount they write, not the amount
they think.

"I
really believe students need to write a lot and often; they
become better writers with a lot of practice."

So
what are the rules for a journal write?Basically you get to decide!Just keep them consistent and students will know what you expect
within the first few writes.In
my class, students are allowed to choose the genre, such as poetry,
drama, or prose.They are
encouraged to try out different styles.

Since
the journaling is actually a form of active brainstorming, I don't worry
about complete sentences, spelling, or mistakes in grammar or mechanics.These are the guidelines we use, but you can feel free to adjust
them to suit your class and needs.

In
the follow up article, I will explain the easy grading system that is
set up to MINIMIZE the amount of teacher work. This stress-free
system allows your students to write more and write often, without the
massive paper stack for you to grade at home. I'll also provide
some of my sample topics to get you started.

Use this link to access this writing assignment on our
website for your own classroom use:

Be sure to check out our website for the FREE teacher Who-I-Want-To- Be
plan and other great Freebies for new teachers. Simply click the
following link: http://www.starteaching.com/free.htm

Be sure to check out our website for more great
information, tips, and techniques for new teachers,
student-teachers, and interns in teacher prep programs. Also be
sure to check out our Who-I-Want-To-Be teacher plan for
preparing yourself to enter the educational profession. Simply
click the following link: http://www.starteaching.com/free.htm

Kindle weighs only 10 ounces and is 1/3 of an inch
thick, yet it holds over 1500 books!

Order your very own Kindle by clicking the link below:

Are There Other Teachers in Your
School or District Who Would Love to Receive Our Newsletter?

Be sure to
pass along our website and newsletter!

"Thanksgiving 8000
Calorie Poem"Author Unknown

Themes
on Life

Thoughts
on Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving
8000 calorie poem

May
your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
and your pies take the prize,
and may your Thanksgiving dinner
stay off your thighs!

-
Unknown

What's New @
StarTeaching?

Hello readers! Welcome to your
second November issue of Features For Teachers for 2010. Thanksgiving is
now behind us and we're heading headlong into winter.

This
month, we showcase some great articles, first from Jerry Judge,
shares thoughts on the 80% Solution, while Hank
Kellner is back with a set of poems from his BLOG.

We also have an article from guest writer V. Sankaranarayanan
on English teaching overseas, and of course Mark Benn
gives us with great thoughts on 21st Century Learning.

As
always, we have free activities (from Helen de la Maza and Mary Ann
Graziani) and articles with practical ideas
and techniques to be applied directly into your classroom.

Are you interested in advertising with us?
Want to reach an audience of thousands each month? The
StarTeaching newsletter is sent out twice a month, and advertising is
available on our website.
Click the link below for more information:Advertise
with Us!

Need a position in a K-12 school, administration, or a coaching
job? Our website has just gained access to a specialized
service just for our members and newsletter readers. Job
listings, application and interviewing tips, and priceless
information, at your fingertips!

Learning in
Hand is an
educator's resource for using some of the coolest technologies
with students.

Tony is a teacher who
wants to make education effective, relevant, and fun. He knows
handhelds are small computers that can make a big difference in
classrooms! He hopes Learning in Hand inspires and motivates
teachers to use technology that students crave.